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Sears, Roebuck and Co.

A Sears store in Hialeah, Florida, during a closing sale in 2020.
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Founded	1886 (as R.W. Sears Watch Company) 1892; 133 years ago (1892) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Founders	Richard Warren Sears Alvah Curtis Roebuck
Headquarters	Hoffman Estates, Illinois , U.S.
Number of locations	11 (April 2024)
Area served	United States
Products	Clothing footwear bedding bath furniture jewelry beauty products electronics appliances housewares tools toys auto repair
Revenue	US$13.8 billion (2016)
Operating income	−US$1.448 billion (2016)
Parent	Sears Holdings (2005–2019) Transformco (2019–present)

Sears, Roebuck and Co. (often just called Sears) is an American chain of department stores. It was started in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck.

Sears began as a company that sold items through catalogs, sending them to people's homes. Later, in 1925, it opened its first physical store in Chicago. For many years, Sears was the biggest store in the United States.

In 2005, another big store chain called Kmart bought Sears. Together, they formed a new company called Sears Holdings. However, over time, Sears faced challenges and its sales went down. In 2018, the company had to file for bankruptcy.

After the bankruptcy, Sears kept a smaller number of stores open. As of April 2024, there are 11 Sears stores still open. Most are in the mainland U.S., and one is in Puerto Rico.

The Story of Sears

How Sears Started

Richard Warren Sears, one of the founders of Sears.

Julius Rosenwald, who helped Sears grow.

The story of Sears began with Richard Warren Sears. In 1886, he started a business selling watches by mail. He called it the R.W. Sears Watch Company. Soon after, he met Alvah Curtis Roebuck, who was a watch repairman.

In 1887, Sears and Roebuck moved their business to Chicago. They published their first mail-order catalog, which was like a big book showing all the items they sold. At first, they only sold watches, diamonds, and jewelry.

In 1893, they changed the company name to Sears, Roebuck, and Co. They started selling many more different products in their catalogs.

Catalogs for Everyone

Before Sears, people in small towns often bought things from local stores. These stores had limited choices and sometimes high prices. Sears changed this by offering a huge selection of products in their catalogs. They also listed clear prices, which was new for many shoppers.

By 1894, the Sears catalog was 322 pages long. It included new items like sewing machines, bicycles, and even cars! By 1895, the catalog grew to 532 pages. Sales quickly grew to millions of dollars.

Around 1895, Alvah Roebuck decided to leave the company. Richard Sears then brought in a businessman named Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald helped the company grow even more by adding many new types of products, like furniture, tools, and even groceries.

Sears Goes Public

In 1906, Sears and Rosenwald decided to offer shares of their company to the public. This meant that anyone could buy a small part of the company. This was a big step for a retail company at the time. Sears was even part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a list of important companies in the stock market.

In 1906, Sears opened a huge building in Chicago for its catalog business. This building was part of a large complex of offices and mail-order operations. It was the company's main office until 1973.

Richard Sears left the company in 1908 because of his health. Julius Rosenwald then became the president and took full control.

Growth and New Stores

An Art Deco Sears store from the 1930s in Brooklyn, New York City.

A Sears store in Raleigh, North Carolina, around 1952.

A typical Sears store located in a mall in Portland, Oregon.

In the 1920s, Sears started opening its first department stores. The first store opened in Chicago in 1925. This was a big change from just selling through catalogs.

Sears stores were different from other stores at the time. They were often built away from busy city centers and had plenty of free parking for cars. This was very helpful as more people started owning cars.

Sears stores also had a unique design and offered a wide variety of products. They sold everything from hardware to clothing. They even let customers pick out items themselves without needing a clerk, which was new for the time.

The Famous Catalog

In 1933, Sears released its first "Sears Wish Book" for Christmas. This special catalog was full of toys and gifts. From 1908 to 1940, Sears even sold ready-to-assemble kit houses through its catalog!

The Sears catalog became very important, especially for people living in rural areas. It was often called "the Consumers' Bible" because it offered so many things that were hard to find locally.

Expanding Across the Americas

Sears also expanded beyond the United States. It opened stores in Mexico in 1947. Over time, Sears grew into many countries in Central America, South America, and even Spain. Today, Sears still operates in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Puerto Rico.

New Brands and the Sears Tower

From the 1920s to the 1950s, Sears continued to build many stores. After World War II, it expanded into suburban areas and shopping malls.

Sears also started its own famous brands. These included Allstate Insurance Company (started in 1931), and popular product brands like Kenmore (for appliances), Craftsman (for tools), and DieHard (for car batteries).

In the 1970s, Sears was at its peak. In 1974, Sears completed the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago. For a time, it was the tallest building in the world! Sears later sold the tower in 1988, but it kept the Sears Tower name until 2009.

Challenges and Changes

Facing New Competition

In the 1980s, Sears started to face more competition from other large retailers, like Walmart. Walmart eventually became the largest retailer in the U.S., taking that title from Sears in 1990.

Sears tried to grow by buying other businesses, like financial services companies. However, some people believe this made the company lose focus on its main retail stores.

The End of the Big Catalog

The cost of printing and sending out the huge general merchandise catalog became too expensive. Sales from the catalog also went down. So, in 1993, Sears stopped publishing its famous general merchandise catalog. This meant that many workers who handled catalog orders lost their jobs.

Sears also sold off many of its non-retail businesses in the 1990s. It sold its credit card operations and its mall development company.

Merger with Kmart

In 2004, Kmart announced it would buy Sears for $11 billion. This created the new company called Sears Holdings Corporation. The idea was to combine the strengths of both brands. For a few years, the combined company was profitable.

However, Sears continued to struggle. From 2011 to 2016, the company lost billions of dollars. Many Sears stores closed during this time. The company tried different strategies, like selling off brands like Lands' End and Craftsman, to raise money.

Bankruptcy and Today

A closed Sears store in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in April 2019.

On October 15, 2018, Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy. This was a difficult time for the company. Many stores were closed, and thousands of jobs were affected.

In January 2019, Sears announced that its chairman, Eddie Lampert, had won a bid to keep about 400 stores open. This meant that Sears would continue to operate, but with a much smaller number of locations.

A Sears Home & Life store in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 2020. These smaller stores were part of a new plan.

Sears also tried opening new, smaller stores called Sears Home & Life. However, most of these small-format stores eventually closed. In 2021, Sears announced it would sell its large headquarters complex in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

In 2022, Sears also closed its remaining Sears Auto Centers. As of April 2024, only 11 full-line Sears stores remain open in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Sears website, Sears.com, is still active for online shopping.

Where Are Sears Stores Today?

As of April 2024, these are the remaining Sears stores:

Puerto Rico (1)

Plaza Las Américas, Hato Rey, San Juan

United States (10)

California

Burbank –
Burbank Town Center
Concord –
Sunvalley Mall
Stockton –
Weberstown Mall
Whittier –
Whittwood Town Center

Florida

Coral Gables –
Stand-alone store
Orlando –
The Florida Mall

Massachusetts

Braintree –
South Shore Plaza

Texas

El Paso -
Cielo Vista Mall

Washington

Tukwila –
Westfield Southcenter
Union Gap –
Valley Mall

Sears Logos Over Time

Logo used in 1907
Logo used from 1966 to 1984
Logo used from 1984 to 1994
Logo used from 1994 to 2004
Logo used from 2004 to 2010
Logo used from 2010 to 2019
Logo used from 2020 to Present

Sears and Sponsorships

Sears used to sponsor many fun events and TV shows.

From 2006 to 2020, Sears had the naming rights to an arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, called the Now Arena.
The company sponsored the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Sears also supported the famous children's TV show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood from 1968 to 1992.
Through its Craftsman brand, Sears sponsored the NASCAR Truck Series, a type of car racing, from 1995 to 2008.

Images for kids

The former Sears Merchandise Building Tower in Chicago.
Sears Catalog Distribution Center and Retail Store in Memphis, Tennessee.
Sears at Bello Monte in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1950.
The former Sears Tower, now the Willis Tower in Chicago.
Sears building in Mexico City.
Mall entrance to the Sears store at Plaza del Norte in Hatillo, Puerto Rico, in 2011.
Sears Auto Center at Steeplegate Mall in Concord, New Hampshire, in 2017.
Exterior of the Sears at the Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills, Illinois, in 2006.
Mall entrance to the former Sears at Paramus Park in Paramus, New Jersey, in 2009.
Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse and Service Center in Houston, Texas, in August 2020.
Exterior of the Sears Essentials in Palm Springs, Florida, in 2010.
2013 photo of the mall entrance to the Sears Grand at Pittsburgh Mills in Tarentum, Pennsylvania.
Exterior of the Sears Parts & Repair Store in Brooklyn, Ohio, in 2012.
Inside a Sears Store at Coral Gables in Miami, Florida, in 2022.
The Sears store at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, on its last day, November 14, 2021.